By William Reiss
Defensive Coordinator
Lackawanna College (PA)
Twitter: @ReissBill
At Lackawanna College, our goal every year is to lead or be at the top of every NJCAA statistical category. We accomplish this by building an identity for our defensive players. As part of our identity as a defense unit, we strive to be the best at tackling, rushing the passer, and creating turnovers in the NJCAA. We game plan every week to create negative plays. This helps us achieve our game goals of not allowing the opposing offenses to cross our goal line, NO MATTER WHAT, and to get the ball back for our offense in the absolute best starting field position.
We are a multiple-front defense. Our two main fronts are DBL Eagle/Bear and the Odd Stack front. We install the fronts with two things in mind. We want to keep personnel changes to a minimum and we CAN NOT get over-complicated when installing coverages.
When installing the DBL Eagle/Bear Front Defenses, you need to:
- Establish force type and run fits
- Create a numbers advantage
- Install a game and stunt package
- Formulate coverage scheme with run fits and game/stunt packages in mind
Installation #1
In our first installation, we install our Odd Stack Cover 3 defense and DBL Eagle 3 Over/3 Under and Cover 1 defense at the same. Our Cover 3 and 3 Over/3 Under concepts are the same, except in 3 Over/3 Under; we are defending with 6 defenders, instead of 8 like in Cover 3. The Odd Stack and DBL Eagle fronts are our identities. If we were to build a house, those two fronts would be our foundation. All the blitzes, games, and coverage variations are the walls, windows, roof, and door.
Odd Stack Cover 3
| Position | Alignment | Responsibility |
| Tackle | 4 or 5 | B or C Gap |
| Nose | 0 | Either A Gap |
| Whip | 4 or 5 | B or C Gap |
| L | 50, 30, 10 | Run: Gap in accordance w/ DL Pass: 2/2 (Reading #2 Zone 2) |
| M | 50, 30, 10 | Run: Gap in accordance w/ DL Pass: Spy or Drop |
| R | 50, 30, 10 | Run: Gap in accordance w/ DL Pass: 2/2 (Reading #2 Zone 2) |
| Hero | I/S or O/S Lev. #2 | Run: C or D Gap Pass: 2/2/1 (Reading #2 Drop Zone 2 then 1) |
| Villain | I/S or O/S Lev. #2 | Run: C or D Gap Pass: 2/2/1 (Reading #2 Drop Zone 2 then 1) |
| Boundary Corner | 1X7 – 10 Divide 1 & 2 | Run: Insurance Pass: Divider |
| Field Corner | 1X7 – 10 Divide 1 & 2 | Run: Insurance Pass: Divider |
| $trong Safety | 10 – 12 MOF | Run: Alley Pass: Deep MOF |
Double Eagle Cover 3
| Position | Alignment | Responsibility |
| Tackle | 3 | B Gap |
| Nose | 0 | Either A Gap |
| Whip | 3 | B Gap |
| L | 5 or 9 | Run: Gap in accordance w/ DL Pass: 2/2 (Reading #2 Zone 2) |
| M | 50, 30, 10 | Run: Gap in accordance w/ DL Pass: Spy or Drop |
| R | 5 or 9 | Run: Gap in accordance w/ DL Pass: 2/2 (Reading #2 Zone 2) |
| Hero | I/S or O/S Lev. #2 Away from 3X1 Closer to Box |
Run: C or D Gap Pass: 2/2/1 (Reading #2 Drop Zone 2 then 1) |
| Villain | I/S or O/S Lev. #2 Away from 3X1 Closer to Box |
Run: C or D Gap Pass: 2/2/1 (Reading #2 Drop Zone 2 then 1) |
| Boundary Corner | 1X7 – 10 Divide 1 & 2 | Run: Insurance Pass: Divider |
| Field Corner | 1X7 – 10 Divide 1 & 2 | Run: Insurance Pass: Divider |
| $trong Safety | 10 – 12 MOF | Run: Alley Pass: Deep MOF |
The remainder of this report focuses solely on how Coach Reiss and the staff at Lackawanna Junior College merges Double Eagle and Bear Fronts with a rotational coverage to keep two linebackers in the core.
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